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Friday, June 3, 2016

A lot has happened over that last few months and the pace of
life never ceases to amaze me. It is absolutely true that the only thing that
never changes is that things change, and life doesn't hold still, doesn't pause
for breath, and doesn't care about your plans or desires. So we go along with
it and handle everything that comes up the best we can, all the while thinking
"Well that wasn't what I had in mind." At least life is never boring.
Even if sometimes we want it to be.

And so it was when I woke up at 3:00am earlier this month
with a strange pressure in my lower abdomen which quickly turned into the most
intense pain I've ever experienced. By 5:00am, I found myself in the ER with
nurses administering morphine and other drugs through an IV. I found myself
having blood drawn and as the tests were being administered, the pain moved and
I could feel it very distinctly in my right side. The doctor put pressure on
different areas of my stomach and I involuntarily jumped when we pushed on my
right side. "Guess what's housed there?" The doctor asked. "The appendix."
I said. "Yes, the appendix."

Shortly after that I was laying in the CT scanner and all I
could think was "At least it's not Morgan this time. Sure enough, I had
acute appendicitis and was being wheeled down to the operating room by 11:00 am
for emergency surgery.

The surgery went well. But coming out of the anesthesia was
no picnic. Apparently, I tried to get up and leave when I started waking up. It
took two nurses to hold me down, and then I got sick. I have a very vague
recollection of the episode.

They let me go home later that day with the instruction of
no lifting. Oh boy. Caring for Morgan just got more complicated. Luckily I had
Danny by my side and my family took shifts helping me out for the next few
days. Recovery was painful and slow but I'm almost back to my usual self.

Kyle just finished Kindergarten and Morgan finally got her
custom wheelchair! The wheelchair took about 3 months and now that it's here, I
can't imagine daily life without it. Everything we've been using with Morgan
has been so ridiculously inadequate. It took an hour and a half with the help
of Morgan's PT and the gal from National Seating and Mobility to size it
correctly. It fits Morgan perfectly offering the right amount of support. You can tell that she likes it too.

Kyle has a new puppy. So we have a cute little gremlin running wild around the house. Another layer of chaos but well worth it.

Kyle has completed Kindergarten. It's been an interesting
year but we got through it and now Kyle is ready for 1st grade. I'm happy it's
summer. I loved the few hours of quiet in the mornings while he's been at
school but I don't mind him being around -- unless, of course, he's driving me
crazy.